Pokémon GO’s inclusive avatar update criticized both in Japan and overseas
Niantic’s April 17 update of Pokémon Go overhauls the game’s avatar customization options, as well as the default appearance of avatars. While the update aims to allow players to create more realistic characters by adding a wider range of inclusive customization options, the way the changes were executed has caused dissatisfaction among players both in Japan and overseas. Unable to make avatars to match their aesthetic anymore, many players are asking for the changes to be reverted.
As of April 17, Pokémon GO players can edit their in-game avatars in far greater detail than before, with the body customization section now containing separate settings for weight, muscle mass, as well as shoulder, chest and hip width. Detailed color options are available for editing skin tone, hair color and eye color, and there are new hairstyles and facial features to be chosen from. As indicated in the X post above, the update this time around aims to allow players to make avatars that more closely resemble themselves.
While all these changes sound promising on their own, the way they were implemented is being heavily criticized by players, many of whom were startled when they opened up Pokémon Go post-update and saw how it affected the avatars they know and love (comparisons seen below). The most frequent complaints are of “sickly” skin tones and characters’ faces being strangely stretched and disproportionate, with neither a distinctly feminine nor masculine look being achievable. The new avatar physiques are also causing dissatisfaction – characters appear to have slouched posture and longer torsos than before, and female Pokémon Go players are reporting that they can no longer create a body with wide hips, a shapely butt or a narrow waist.
Some of the issues being highlighted likely have something to do with the fact that you can no longer choose the gender of your avatar in Pokémon Go. The decision to remove gender selection was probably meant to allow players to create anything between a fully masculine/feminine character to an androgynous one, but the way it was executed seems to have resulted in most combinations of features looking unbalanced and unconvincing. The overall look of the avatars seems to have shifted from an idealized, anime-like style to a more realistic look, which is also not a popular choice.
Additionally, users have been reporting bugs such as avatars’ clothes clipping through their bodies, and one user got stuck with a bald avatar that no hairstyle could fix.
As a result, it seems most Pokémon GO players are in favor of going back to the old avatars, or Niantic making a big series of improvements to the new ones.
Pokémon Go is available on Google Play and the App Store.
Amber V
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I don’t think they can be that out of touch to not realize how insulting it is to market that it “looks like you”. Also, Pokemon has always had an anime style, so this seems ridiculous…
I think Niantic’s Pokemon GO is just a result of Game Freak no longer caring about quality and allowing Niantic to do whatever they would like having this done by consulting company’s or just doing ESG investments because why should they care about quality or culture when they are on top? Sadly it has been this downward trend since Pokemon Violet and Scarlett where the designs where no longer up to par anymore for Trainers and Pokemon being completely uninspired and putting in the absolute minimum because they know it will sell.
At this point i am just going to say that the Pokemon most fans have grown up with is being eroded from within, and to move on with Palworld instead until things change. Do not buy from Gamefreak, uninstall apps, if you dislike this move, let them know how you feel, but do not think they will change until it really hurts them in the pocketbook.